Sunday, April 27, 2014

Once Upon a Time 3.19: "A Curious Thing"

“He needs to believe again. I think we all do.”
- Regina

I am so happy that the storyline is really picking up. Sure it means the end of the season but lots of good stuff is happening. In the Enchanted Forest of a year ago, Regina is not happy that Snow and Charming want to announce their pregnancy. Belle arrives with news of Neal’s death (sort of) and Rumple’s resurrection. Unfortunately, just as Phillip and Aurora spill the beans that Zelena wants the royal baby, said witch appears and promises to take the little bundle of joy when the time comes. And it seems the baby is powerful. Seriously, what is it with true love producing magic babies? We jump to eight months later and the gang (minus Phillip and Aurora who were turned into monkeys) is trying to come up with a game plan to beat Zelena. Snow remarks that they were ahead of Regina because of Rumple giving them a heads up. So it seems they need to make a trek to his castle to see if he can warn them this time. Robin Hood offers to help get them in but Regina is not pleased. Apparently their passion hasn’t been kindled yet.

In Storybrooke, however, we happen upon a very happy couple snogging outside of Emma’s hotel room. Regina asks what Robin sees in her and he says that it’s a second chance. And she’s a good kisser to boot. Their moment is interrupted by Henry walking out into the hallway. Awkward! Well almost as much as Emma walking in Snow and Charming post-whoopee last season. We’ve got our war council going on and they are going to try to break the curse. Hopefully that will mean they find out if they already had a plan to defeat Zelena. And maybe they’ll figure out why Zelena cast the curse to bring back Storybrooke. The key is going to be getting Henry to remember his old life, for better or worse. Out in the woods, Rumple has kidnapped Hook at Zelena’s request. She is not pleased that the Savior is still magical and says that if Hook hasn’t kissed Emma by the time the Snowing baby is born, she’s going to start killing people, beginning with young Henry. Well damn. The good guys better haul ass if they want to make sure Henry doesn’t completely freak out.

Back in the Enchanted Forest, Robin Hood gets the gang into Rumple’s castle but Regina is still not happy he’s along for the ride. It’s really fun seeing them then and now. Again, still pissed about Neal but the hotness of Outlaw Queen is dulling the pain a bit. They find Rumple locked in a cell and he’s about as mad as he was before Emma separated him and Neal. Belle manages to get through and he sends them on a quest to find Glinda who was exiled to the Enchanted Forest. Light magic can defeat Zelena apparently.

The Charmings and Regina come up with the idea that in order to break this curse, they need to make Henry believe and that begins with the story book. So Regina and Snow are going to look in her closet. Emma basically bails on Henry, giving him a vague line about a lead in a case but he calls her out on it. I have to admit it’s kind of nice to have him do more than just sit around and play video games. Emma gets all harsh mom on him and he tries to take off. He even gets as far as trying to pick the lock on Emma’s car before Hook stops him and says he’s got a better way. Why do I think Hook may end up using Henry to lure Emma in so he can kiss her?

The search for the story book seems fruitless until Snow finds it in a trunk that Emma already looked in. Regina and David head off to find Henry and Snow calls her daughter out on acting weird. Again Emma insists she wants to take Henry back to New York when this is done. Honestly, though I don’t see how that would work. Regina would not stand for Henry being so far from her and really why wouldn’t Emma want to be with her family and get to know her little sibling?

Back in the Enchanted Forest, Regina is still in a bad mood and snipes at Snow and Charming for being flirty and romantic. Rumple’s instructions to find Glinda pan out and the pair go through a magic door, much like the door to the Well of Wonders on “Wonderland”. Glinda explains that the Snowing baby is very powerful and pure of heart. But Glinda can’t stop Zelena for them. Only Emma can. We get the little nugget that the emerald pendant Zelena wears focuses her power and without it, she’s vulnerable. See I’ve been thinking it was huge and obnoxious and gaudy for a reason! Now they have to find a way to get to Emma. Snow seems the think the only way to get there is to recast the curse from season 1.

Regina thinks the Charmings are bonkers but it turns out casting the curse is their only option. She refuses but David says that Snow could do it and use his heart. Seeing as he’s in Storybrooke I’m guessing something else happens to cast the curse (thankfully). Things are getting kind of dire in town, though. Henry is missing but Emma has him on GPS. Guess that actually is a useful thing to do to your kids even though it’s kind of a little invasion of privacy. He’s down at the docks and Hook is actually trying to save Henry by having Smee take him to New York via boat. Too bad a brigade of flying monkeys appear and chase them into the boat house. Hook manages to disintegrate a few but it takes the rest of the family to defeat them all. And finally Henry gets his memory back. But Emma doesn’t have a chance to cast the curse because Zelena appears and starts choking out the boy. She also mentions that Hook failed her so I expect him to come clean about the whole kissing thing. Regina tries to stop Zelena but she gets knocked out. Emma gets to wield some impressive power though and makes Henry glow and Zelena can’t hold on. It was very Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. Part of me wonders if the writers had that in mind. Regina finally wakes up and she’s the one that breaks the curse, not Emma. I like that twist. I get Emma is the Savior and all but give Regina some good moments, too.

Things are all set in the Enchanted Forest for casting the curse and Snow and Charming sort of say goodbye before Regina rips out his heart and Snow crushes it. Zelena makes an appearance of course and adds a forgetting potion to the mix. She thinks she’s won and zips off on her broom. But Snow has an idea. Charming said that they shared one heart and she convinces Regina to split hers (Snow) in half so they each have part and it actually revives Charming. I was wondering how that was going to work (and Emma points that out in the present). Yay for no plot holes! Emma confronts Hook about the whole curse thing and she can’t trust him anymore. Sorry about that Captain Swan fans! Snow and Charming also point out that they didn’t send Hook the memory potion. It turns out that Zelena made 2 vials of it and gave one to Rumple. Neal broke out momentarily to send the vial off to Hook to get Emma back. Yay Neal!

Henry gets to really say goodbye to his dad now and he’s kind of excited that Operation Cobra is back on. Oh and he thinks it is pretty awesome that his mom is dating Robin Hood. I had to laugh when Regina mentioned that for some reason Robin is much more likable in this world. Go figure! And of it would seem the Snowing baby’s arrival s imminent as Snow goes into labor at the cemetery. Only one more week before the two-hour finale folks!